Hurricane Florence: Castle Scantron Test Delivery Update

AANC News, NAA News,

Below, please find information from Scott Greene, Vice-President of Test Delivery at Castle Scantron about preparations for Hurricane Florence. Please do not hesitate to contact your Client Services Executive or the test delivery team at Castle-Scantron with any questions or comments. Thank you. 

Castle Main Line: 919-572-6880 

  • We’re closely monitoring Hurricane Florence and anticipating a significant impact along the east coast
  • We are anticipating a good number of test site closings due to the storm
  • However,
    • Our team is prepared to assist candidates who will need to reschedule
    • The team is prepared to work remotely or from the office depending on conditions
    • As sites close:
      • Automatic emails will be sent to the impacted candidates with instructions on how to reschedule
      • Castle customer service reps will be following up with a call to each candidate to assist them
    • The Test Delivery and Candidate Services teams will also be responding to all other general calls and emails to assist candidates with their needs
  • All online services should not be impacted. Candidates who are testing at sites that are not closed will be able to test; candidates will be able to use our candidate management systems, scheduling systems, and practice test systems; ADE will be up; etc.
    • Castle’s production systems are all housed inside a Tier III Tierpoint datacenter. The Datacenter is certified by The Uptime Institute as a Tier III for uptime and Tierpoint provides Castle with a 100% uptime SLA. This facility in particular is rated to withstand any major hurricane or tornado, utilizing dual 18” thick concrete walls and a reinforced steel and concrete roof. The center utilizes fully redundant A / B power and network point of presence (POP). This ensures that both utility power and network connections enter the facility from different carriers and through different paths. Power is maintained by dual 1200kW UPS systems and two fully redundant 2MW diesel generators with 4000 gallons of fuel storage. The datacenter also holds unique priority contracts with fuel suppliers, meaning a tanker truck can be pulled onsite and supply fuel directly and indefinitely.
    • Castle’s office systems are protected by a Natural Gas Generator and multiple UPS systems. All systems can remain online to allow Castle staff to work remotely, continuing to access email and receive all phone calls. 

      Scott Greene, M.Ed. 
      Vice President, Test Delivery